Packer Central

WATCH: Packers QB Jordan Love Returns to Practice

For the first time since suffering a knee injury in Brazil on Sept. 6, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love practiced on Wednesday. He was limited participation.

Bill Huber

Jordan Love returned to practice for the Packers on Wednesday.
Jordan Love returned to practice for the Packers on Wednesday. / Bill Huber/Packers On SI
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love returned to the practice field on Wednesday, clearly opening the door for him to start at the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

After practice, coach Matt LaFleur said Love was limited participation. A few questions about what Love did on the practice field resulted in LaFleur saying “limited” and nothing more.

Love suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee during the final seconds of the Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 6. A dozen days after fears that Love’s season may have ended with a torn ACL, Love was hopping on one leg – both his left leg and right leg – during warmups and throwing bootleg passes during the opening period of the day.

Reporters only got to watch about 5 minutes of practice but Love seemed to be moving as normal. He wore a sleeve over his left leg.

At this time last week, LaFleur said he’d consider playing Love without any practice reps. On Monday, LaFleur said he would want Love to practice before playing in a game.

“We’ll see how it kind of plays out,” LaFleur said a couple days after Malik Willis helped the Packers beat the Colts 16-10. “Ideally, in a perfect world, if he’s going to play, you’d like him to get some reps in, especially I think, it would be two weeks. That’s a long time.”

Love did not practice last week, was questionable on Friday’s injury report and downgraded to doubtful on Saturday before being inactive on Sunday.

Love spent the game on the sideline, helping Willis as much as possible between series.

“We were pretty much communicating after every drive,” Willis said. “He was telling me what he’s seeing, I’m telling him what I’m seeing, and just seeing if we can agree or we have a conflict. It was great to have him out there. He’s seen a lot of ball, and it’s just awesome that he’s able to walk around and be himself.”

Without Love and with Willis having been with the team for only 20 days, the Packers ran the ball 53 times to beat the Colts. They leaned on veteran running back Josh Jacobs, whose 32 carries were the most by a Packers player since Ryan Grant in 2008.

“This is one of those games where as a team you feel good because you know what you’re capable of. You can see what you’re capable of,” Jacobs said. “Obviously, without our leader, it would make things a lot easier, but to be able to still rally around each other and come out with a win, it definitely feels good.”

Love started all 17 regular-season games last year as well as both playoff games. He played every meaningful snap in getting through the season unscathed.

Whoever the quarterback on Sunday in Tennessee, he will face a challenge against a stingy Titans defense.

Through one week, the Titans ranks No. 1 in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game and second in passing yards allowed per attempt. Tennessee has faced Bears rookie Caleb Williams and Jets star and four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, so it’s not as if they’ve faced two chumps.

“We have to go prepare to play the Packers offense, whether it's with Malik or Jordan Love," Titans coach Brian Callahan told reporters in Nashville before their practice on Wednesday. “Schematically it varies a little bit but, at the end of the day, we have to do our jobs well. ... We'll be ready for both players.”

More Green Bay Packers News

New receiver to practice squad | Lloyd to IR; running back promoted | Packers are underdogs vs. Titans | Packers-Titans matchups | Consensus NFL power rankings | Injuries for upcoming opponents | Latest Packers injury updates | Three Packers-Colts overreactions | Defense delivers vs. Colts | Josh Jacobs brings the heat | Report card: Packers-Colts grades | Malik Willis plays role to perfection | Matt LaFleur earns career highlight | Stock report: Who’s up? Who’s Down? | Vomit, sweat and tears 

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Bill Huber

BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packer Central, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.